Lithic Production and Exchange in the South Balkans, North Aegean and North Western Anatolia during the Late Prehistory

Dr. Petranka Nedelcheva-Megalla during her Lecture at The Field Museum

On February 27, Dr. Petranka Nedelcheva-Megalla, the 2013-14 ABF Archaeological Program Postdoctoral Fellow presented a lecture at The Field Museum about her work on the lithic collections from the Aegean. This talk was part of a lunchtime lecture series which goal is to familiarize museum staff with the research activities of postdoctoral fellows in the department of Science and Education.

The title of Dr. Nedelcheva-Megalla’s lecture was “Lithic Production and Exchange in the South Balkans, North Aegean and North Western Anatolia during the Late Prehistory”. She used her experience from the excavations she participated in – in Drama, (Bulgaria), Pietrele (Romania), Aruchio (Georgia), Troy (Turkey) and many others – to explain the circulation of lithic artefacts between different prehistoric population groups in the area.

Dr. Nedelcheva -Megalla presented the ways in which the distribution of ‘know-how’ was carried out through participation in extensive exchange during the Late Prehistory. Dr. Nedelcheva-Megalla explained how the knowledge concerning the production of lithic tools was transferred, adopted or avoided across the different regions around the Aegean. She made interesting comparisons between the different features of the chipped stone assemblages, such as raw material procurement, technology and morphology of the retouched implements.

The lecture was followed by a lively conversation, during which such themes as the history of the Balkans and its specific place in the context of broader archaeological and anthropological research were discussed. Dr. Nedelcheva-Megalla’s presentation reinforced why Bulgaria and the Balkan region deserve the international scientific community’s attention. Petranka reaffirmed her position as one of the most interesting and promising young scientists at The Field Museum at the present moment.